Little Secrets of Curating Short Films for Children and Young Audiences

Panel discussion

This year’s FeKK also caters to the youngest. To accompany FeKKids’ new competition programmes, Under the Sweet Sky and Little Secrets, we will join experts for young audiences to discuss the features of selecting films for young audiences, preparing programmes and accompanying events, and finding ways to attract the youngest generations. We’ll be speaking with Sebastian Kraner, head of the children’s and youth programme at Vienna Shorts; Vincent Förster, section head of Berlinale Generation; and Jelena Dragutinović, Animateka Festival programming associate and film educator. The event will be moderated by Jelena Radić, head of the children’s programme at FeKK.

free entry

Sebastian Kraner, born in 1990, lives and works in Vienna as a short film curator and educator, musician, and filmmaker. Since 2020, he has been part of the team at the international short film festival Vienna Shorts and has headed the Children & Youth section since 2023. He is dedicated to creating meaningful discussions and open spaces for emotions for and between young audiences in the cinema, as well as fostering programme co-curation with younger people.

Vincent Förster is a festival programmer from Berlin and programme manager of Short Films at Berlinale Generation, the festival’s section dedicated to young audiences. His studies in international relations, Arabic, and documentary film directing took him to Scotland, Egypt, Morocco, and Sudan, where he worked in cultural and educational institutions while developing film projects. He is also a senior consultant for short films for the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) and has served on the selection committees of Filmfest Dresden and Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, where he has curated film programmes.

Jelena Dragutinović graduated from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana. Her thesis, entitled Fantasy Between Psychology and Fairy Tale, focused on the concept of fantasy in psychoanalysis, fairy tale analysis, and the manner in which fairy tales address a child’s subconscious at a certain age. She is a coordinator and mentor of workshops at Društvo Slon (Slon Association for Film Education). Within the association, she endeavours to promote film culture (in particular animation) amongst children, young people, professionals, and the general public. Jelena is the selector for the children’s competition programme at the Stoptrik Festival, the Slon competition programme at the Animateka Festival, and the curator of children’s distribution programmes.